THE ROLE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Prashant Trivedi Lecturer Dayanand Academy of Management Studies prashant.5911@gmail.com

Pradeep kumar Tiwari Lecturer Dayanand Academy of Management Studies tprakhar.tiwari18@gmail.com

Abstract
Striswasakhtikaran leads to Prosperity of the Family, it aims at improving the living levels of the poor women in not only rural but many urban areas also, it is a massive poverty eradication tool in contemporary history. It envisaged in bringing the scattered women talent together to form the grass root organizations to help boost their empowerment and economic security. It aims at removing poverty among rural women households through setting up of industrious enterprises varied from pickle & pappad units to ICT based micro enterprises. The activities of microenterprises under the project were undertaken by the locally formed Community Development Societies comprising poor women. It has proved from this Striswasakhtikaran without doubt that women empowerment is the best strategy for poverty eradication. Through this innovate project the voiceless and powerless women started identifying their inner strength, weakness and opportunities for growth, and started reshaping their own destiny and the process of empowerment becomes the symbol of hope for the family and society. It opens a new landscape in development of women & women enterprises. In this article we are critically analyzing and discussing about the Women ICT based micro enterprise supported by Striswasakhtikaran .The discussion focus on socio economic background of women ICT based enterprises, women empowerment, input/resource support ,sustainability , challenges the enterprises are facing, success factors ,and job satisfaction level among women group members .

Key words: Striswasakhtikaran, Poverty alleviation, Women Empowerment, ICT Enterprises,

Community Development.

Introduction
Women empowerment is a key to development of any country ,and in India where still one person which is usually male is running the family and is dominating it also,is rarely concerned about empowering women through education and other skills when half the population is underdeveloped how can a country can be developed when one is feeding the whole family and rest are unproductive, In order to keep the pace of development it becomes very essential to go for Streeswashaktikaran and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can play a very vital role in women empowerment it comprise a complex and heterogeneous set of goods, applications and services used to produce, process, distribute and transform information. Traditional technologies continue to be important for large numbers of people around the world, particularly in rural areas. However, new technologies have a vast potential for empowerment which needs to be fully exploited. Over the past decade, there has been a growing understanding that these technologies can be powerful instruments for advancing economic and social development through the creation of new types of economic activity, employment opportunities, improvements in health-care delivery and other services, and the enhancement of networking, participation and advocacy within society. ICT also have the potential to improve interaction between Governments and citizens, fostering transparency and accountability in governance.

While the potential of ICT for stimulating economic growth, socioeconomic development and effective governance is well recognized, the benefits of ICT have been unevenly distributed within and between countries. The term digital divide refers to the differences in resources and capabilities to access and effectively utilize ICT for development that exist within and between countries, regions, sectors and socio-economic groups. The digital divide is often characterized by low levels of access to technologies. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of computer literacy and language barriers are among the factors impeding access to ICT infrastructure, especially in developing countries While there is recognition of the potential of ICT as a tool for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, a gender divide has also been identified, reflected in the lower numbers of women accessing and using ICT compared with men. Unless this gender divide is specifically addressed, there is a risk that ICT may exacerbate existing inequalities between women and men and create new forms of inequality. If, however,

the gender dimensions of ICTin terms of access and use, capacity-building opportunities, employment and potential for empowermentare explicitly identified and addressed, ICT can be a powerful catalyst for political and social empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality.

Review of literature
Wresch(1996) wrote that the poor are excluded from much of the worlds information and no one has even begun to outline a solution to the problem (1996:58). This literature review will reveal whether his sentiments are still true today. In his view, one of the biggest ironies of the information age is that the rich get their information almost free, while the poor have to pay dearly for it, in the case for instance of the price poor people have to pay to make a simple telephone call. The notion of exclusion is thus an important consideration in some of the literature in this review.

Castells (1999) examines a profile of a new world, centered on multinational corporations, global financial markets and a highly concentrated system of technological research and development, which may not be highly relevant to this review. It is significant however that the system he envisages allows linkages with everything that is valuable according to dominant values and interests, while disconnecting everything that is not valuable, or becomes devalued. The system has a concurrent capacity to include and exclude people based upon a capacity to network, and this is where the poor in developing countries suffer from exclusion. Braga (1998) argued some believe that ICTs have and will contribute to even wider economic divergence between developing and developed countries. This view is consistent with Browns (2001) argument that there is still a lot of scepticism with regard to whether ICTs can reduce poverty in the developing countries. This thesis is also evident in Chowdhury (2000) who says that some sceptics still do not see any role for ICTs in efforts aimed at poverty alleviation. In his words the poor cant eat high-speed Internet access, of course. Nevertheless, others believe that ICTs can be mechanisms that enable developing countries to leapfrog stages of development. This perspective is in line with Barlows (1998) commentary that Africa (discussed as a unit) should skip industrialism entirely and leap directly into the information era. This conclusion is shared by Hudson

(2001) who says the potential for leapfrogging lies in the

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Consortium. Chowdhury (2000) writes that ICTs encompass technologies that can process different kinds of information (voice, video, audio, text and data) and facilitate different forms of communications among human agents, among humans and information systems, and among information systems. They are about capturing, storing, processing, sharing, displaying, protecting, and managing information. Mansell & Wehn (1998) focus on how ICTs can be harnessed for purposes of meeting development goals. There is one chapter in the publication specifically on the uses of ICTs when poverty is pervasive. They warn that if poor countries implement investment strategies that emulate the one person one telephone one Internet access point model that is predominant in the West, frustration will be rife. In addition, they advance the view that there is little to be gained from access to global or local resources if the skills to select, interpret and apply the information are absent or poorly developed through the population. Consequently, they suggest it is important for poor countries to develop models for access and information content because the capacity to generate and share information about local resources is as important as access to distant digital information.

Barlow (1998) believes that common perceptions of the potential of the digital age are limited by the habits of mind one develops in an industrial society. These habits are different for those who have grown up in poverty with no television sets for instance to shape their world view. Most of these people are found in Africa and the developing world in general. The basis of this argument is weak however since Barlow has no empirical evidence to support his assertion, apart from his experiences in the countryside of a developed country.

Braga (1998) builds a case that concludes that the countries that are better positioned to thrive in the new economy are those that can rely on: widespread access to communication networks; the existence of an educated labour-force and consumers; and the availability of institutions that promote knowledge creation and dissemination. This may suggest that developing countries are at a

disadvantage in comparison to developed countries. Similar sentiments are shared by Mansell & Wehn (1998). Heeks (1999) asked: Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) help to alleviate poverty in low-income countries? His study attempts to answer that question and provides a theoretical framework for empirical studies in this area. Heeks suggests that ICTs play a role mainly as communications technologies rather than as information-processing or production technologies. Among his priorities for the development agenda are: the poor need knowledge to access, assess and apply existing information and need resources for action more than they need access to new information; the poor need access to new, locally-contextualized information more than access to existing information from an alien context; the information needs of the poor may be met by more informal information systems than by formal ICT-based systems; the poor will reap the fullest benefits of ICTs only when they know and control both the technology and its related know-how. Chowdhury (2000) asserts that ICTs do not have any more to do with poverty and food security in the developing countries than rain dances have to do with rain. He notes that many skeptics have not seen the role of ICTs in efforts intended to alleviate poverty and bring food security to developing countries. The author acknowledges that the problem of poverty alleviation is complex. Efficient production systems and physical infrastructure are a few of the necessities.

APJRBM Volume 1,

Issue 2 (November, 2010) ISSN 2229-4104 Sri Krishna International Research &
Educational Consortium.

Brown (2001) argues that ICTs are simply tools. Significantly, no single tool can solve a global problem, such as, poverty, which has such complex and multiple causes. The author gives examples of where ICTs can play a significant role such as in the creation of jobs and in the reduction of distance. However, the author points out that it would be preferable if the labourforce were educated in this information age. Mohanan Pillai & Shanta ( 2008) argues while there are hundreds of government projects aimed at poverty alleviation, stock taking of their impact revealed that their outcomes have been mixed. In this context the newly designed projects based on IT specifically aimed at reducing the social, gender and economic divide needs to be examined to understand the lessons that these new initiatives offer. Such an attempt is made in this project on employment generating potential of this technology among poor women.

Need of the study

The studies conducted by various agencies and individuals indicates that except ICT enterprises other micro enterprises are shown good indication of women empowerment and poverty alleviation .This throws the light for in-depth evaluation of women ICT based enterprises in India. Though the earlier studies have developed some multidisciplinary approaches they have not been corroborated with exhaustive empirical content (Shobha Arun et al, 2004). This study fills this gap. And evaluate,how women ICT based enterprises are useful for women empowerment and poverty alleviation and various problems the enterprises facing to run the ICT units . The study will help the agencies and policy makers to intervene on the problems and help the ICT units for turnaround.

Benefits of ICT / Implementation / usages of ICT ICT is an essential resource in education. Women can use computers from an early age to university level to continue their education. Teachers upload course documents so that women misses a lesson, they can download information and do the work in their own time. Encourages women determined lessons, where students take responsibility for their learning. Government sponsored learning tools available to women. Government promises high-speed broadband internet access for every university, hospital and doctors' surgery which would allow schools to be linked and to share resources. Use of packages: word-processing, dtp, spreadsheets. Special facilities for pupils with disabilities. Teacher and pupil communications improve.

4. Role of Women in India The Government of India had ushered in the new millennium by declaring the year 2001 as 'Women's Empowerment Year' to focus on a vision 'where women are equal partners like men'. Women build their careers, International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011 411 without compromising their other responsibilities. The Constitution of India not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women. Empowerment is one of the key factors in determining the success of development is the status and position of women in the society.

Objective and Hypostases of the study 1. To conduct a socio-economic evaluation of women ICT based enterprises. 2. To analyze whether the input/resource are adequate for smooth functioning of Women ICT units. 3. To critically evaluate sustainability issues related with women ICT enterprises. 4. To analyze how ICT units supporting women empowerment. 5. To analysis the job satisfaction level of core group members in women ICT units. 6. To critically analyze various challenges women ICT units facing in India 6. Finding and Conclusions In the recent years, through the implementation of various ICT related projects, various states are successful. By seeing its growth in this sector, the potential work force in the state, various foreign agencies, government of India and other non governmental agencies are seriously involved for the further development of this sector. Their mission is to reach where no one had reached before. There are also many projects for the greater involvement of women and more particularly poor and rural women. The main object is to make the women both economically and socially strong. The use of ICT helps to bridge the gap between peoples opportunities for self-employment in the informal economy and the high growth sectors of the world economy. It can be concluded that the women of various states have empowered with the information and communication technology. It has changed their position from the past. It has also taken several steps and implemented various plans and policies along with government of India to eradicate poverty and bring the women into the IT related industry. NGOs working in the field, multinational agencies and other private agencies have also extended their help to promote IT among the women. The development of IT has enabled the women section to participate in the daily affairs of the state, which range from the household work to local governance.